Amid July 8 television talk-show buzz about President Donald Trump's upcoming Supreme Court nominee announcement, Republicans expressed optimism that the Senate will confirm any of the likely candidates the president puts forth.

President Trump spent the weekend discussing his options with other officials and is expected to announce his pick Monday night. Every one you can't go wrong. Getting a nominee through takes time. That means President Trump should select anyone but Kethledge or Hardiman. Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia judge Thomas Hardiman, the runner-up in last year's search, rounds out the final four. "I do think the president has to think about who is the easiest to get confirmed here and I expect we'll do that on sort of a normal timetable of a couple of months". Roy Blunt, R-Mo., on Sunday on NBC's Meet The Press. But the process of vetting the nominee will start right away. Without Republican defections, however, Senate rules leave Democrats with scant options to block confirmation of Trump's nominee. Senate Republicans hold only a 51-49 majority, leaving them hardly any margin if Democrats hold the line. Still, Republicans can only lose one vote. If confirmed, Kavanaugh would be the second justice installed by Trump, who nominated Neil Gorsuch to the court shortly after being inaugurated a year ago. All eyes are on the three Senate Democrats who voted for Neil Gorsuch last year - North Dakota's Heidi Heitkamp, Indiana's Joe Donnelly, and West Virginia's Joe Manchin - who all facing reelection this year in states where Trump won by double digits in 2016.

He also has expressed a broad interpretation of what constitutes obstruction of justice, a position which could be risky if the Russian Federation investigation leads to impeachable allegations against Trump.

Reid's move was so inflammatory  it is known as the nuclear option  that it came with a warning from McConnell on the Senate floor: "I say to my friends on the other side of the aisle, you will regret this, and you may regret it a lot sooner than you think".

Kavanaugh, 53, is a longtime fixture of the Republican legal establishment.

Kavanaugh has attracted the most attention for his view that presidents shouldn't be bothered with legal inquiries. They see him as too pragmatic and have painted him as the kind of nominee who could betray conservatives. "This is partially due to the cases it has been asked to decide, such as the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, and it is partially due to the divided nature of American politics". In that hearing, California Sen. The issue was her involvement with a mostly Catholic, conservative religious group called People of Praise. Dianne Feinstein past year during her confirmation hearing to the federal bench.

Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of SC and Roy Blunt of Missouri said Sunday that they believe any of the top four contenders could get confirmed by the GOP-majority Senate. Susan Collins of ME and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska. "I'll interpret the law as written". Plus, holding Barrett, who is just 46, would give her more time to amass federal judicial experience.

Kavanaugh is a former clerk to Anthony Kennedy, and was the principle author of the Ken Starr report on Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky. He's an evangelical Christian, has a long judicial record, no real controversy on Capitol Hill.

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